"YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN" —John 3:7

Thomas Boston (1676-1732)

For your conviction, consider these few things:

REGENERATION IS ABSOLUTELY necessary to qualify you to do anything really good and acceptable to God. While you are not born again, your best works are but glittering sins; for though the matter of them is good, they are quite marred in the performance.

Consider, that without regeneration there is no faith, and "without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb 11:6). Faith is a vital act of the new-born soul. The evangelist, showing the different entertainment which our Lord Jesus had from different persons, some receiving Him, some rejecting Him, points at regenerating grace as the true cause of that difference, without which never any one would have received Him. He tells us, that "as many as received him," were those "which were born of God" (Joh 1:11-13). Unregenerate men may presume, but true faith they cannot have. Faith is a flower that grows not in the field of nature. As the tree cannot grow without a root, neither can a man believe without the new nature, whereof the principle of believing is a part. Without regeneration a man's works are dead works. As is the principle, so must the effects be: if the lungs are rotten, the breath will be unsavoury; and he who at best is dead in sin, his works at best will be but dead works. "Unto them that are defiled and unbelieving, is nothing pure being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate" (Ti 1:15-16). If we could say of a man, that he is more blameless in his life than any other in the world, that he reduces his body with fasting and has made his knees as horns with continual praying, if he is not born again, that exception would mar all. As if one should say, "There is a well-proportioned body, but the soul is gone; it is but a dead lump." This is a melting consideration. You do many things materially good; but God says, "All these things avail not, as long as I see the old nature reigning in the man," "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature" (Gal 6:15).

If you are not born again:

(1) All your reformation is naught in the sight of God. You have shut the door, but the thief is still in the house. It may be you are not what once you were; yet you are not what you must be, if ever you see heaven; for "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (Joh 3:3).

(2) Your prayers are an "abomination to the Lord" (Pro 15:8). It may be, others admire your seriousness; you cry as for your life; but God accounts of the opening of your mouth as one would account of the opening of a grave full of rottenness, "Their throat is an open sepulchre" (Rom 3:13). Others are affected with your prayers, which seem to them as if they would rend the heavens; but God accounts them but as the howling of a dog: "They have not cried unto me with their hearts, when they howled upon their beds" (Hos 7:14). Why, because you are yet "in the gall of bitterness, and bond of iniquity!" All your struggles against sin in your own heart and life, are naught. The proud Pharisee afflicted his body with fasting, and God struck his soul, in the meantime with a sentence of condemnation (Luk 18). Balaam struggled with his covetous temper, to that degree, that though he loved the wages of unrighteousness, yet he would not win them by cursing Israel: but he died the death of the wicked (Num 31:8). All you do, while in an unregenerate state, is for yourself: therefore it will fare with you as with a subject, who having reduced the rebels, puts the crown on his own head, and loses all his good service and his head too.

Be convinced, then, that you must be born again. The Scripture says that the Word is the seed, whereof the new creature is formed: therefore take heed to it, and entertain it, as it is your life. Apply yourself to the reading of the Scripture. You that cannot read, get others to read it to you. Wait diligently on the preaching of the Word, as by divine appointment the special means of conversion; for "it pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe" (1Co 1:21).

Receive the testimony of the Word of God concerning the misery of an unregenerate state, the sinfulness thereof, and the absolute necessity of regeneration. Receive its testimony concerning God, what a holy and just One He is. Examine your ways by it; namely, the thoughts of your heart, the expressions of your lips, and the tenor of your life. Look back through the several periods of your life; see your sins from the precepts of the Word, and learn, from its threatening, what you are liable to on account of these sins.

By the help of the same Word of God, view the corruption of your nature. Were these things deeply rooted in the heart, they might be the seed of that fear and sorrow, on account of your soul's state, which are necessary to prepare and stir you up to look after a Saviour. Fix your thoughts upon Him offered to you in the Gospel, as fully suited to your case; having, by His obedience unto death, perfectly satisfied the justice of God, and brought in everlasting righteousness. This may prove the seed of humiliation, desire, hope and faith; and move you to stretch out the withered hand unto Him, at His own command.

Let these things sink deeply into your hearts, and improve them diligently. Remember, whatever you are, you must be born again; else it had been better for you that you had never been born. Wherefore, if any of you shall live and die in an unregenerate state, you will be inexcusable, having been fairly warned of your danger.

Chapel Library • 2603 West Wright St. • Pensacola, Florida 32505 USA

© Copyright 1998 Chapel Library: annotations.

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Only Two Religions!

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THE CALL TO REPENTANCE

J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

“I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”—Luke 13:3

REPENTANCE is one of the foundation stones of Christianity. Sixty times, at least, we find repentance spoken of in the New Testament. What was the first doctrine our Lord Jesus Christ preached? We are told that He said, “Repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mar 1:15). What did the Apostles proclaim when the Lord sent them forth the first time? They “preached that men should repent” (Mar 6:12). What was the charge that Jesus gave His disciples when He left the world? That “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations” (Luk 24:47). What was the concluding appeal of the first sermons that Peter preached? “Repent, and be baptized.” “Repent ye, and be converted” (Act 2:38; 3:19). What was the summary of doctrine that Paul gave to the Ephesian elders when he parted from them? He told them that he had taught them publicly, and from house to house, “testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Act 20:21). What was the description that Paul gave of his own ministry, when he made his defense before Festus and Agrippa? He told them that he had showed all men that they should “repent, and do works meet for repentance” (Act 26:20). What was the account given by the believers at Jerusalem of the conversion of the Gentiles? When they heard of it they said, “Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life” (Act 11:18)...Surely we must all agree that these are serious considerations. They ought to show the importance of the inquiry I am now making. A mistake about repentance is a most dangerous mistake. An error about repentance is an error that lies at the very roots of our religion. What, then, is repentance? When can it be said of any man that he repents?

Repentance is a thorough change of man’s natural heart upon the subject of sin. We are all born in sin. We naturally love sin. We take to sin as soon as we can act and think, as the bird takes to flying and the fish takes to swimming. There never was a child that required schooling or education in order to learn deceitfulness, sensuality, passion, self-will, gluttony, pride, and foolishness. These things are not picked up from bad companions or gradually learned by a long course of tedious instruction. They spring up of themselves, even when boys and girls are brought up alone. The seeds of them are evidently the natural product of the heart. The aptitude of all children to these things is an unanswerable proof of the corruption and fall of man. Now when this heart of ours is changed by the Holy Ghost, when this natural love of sin is cast out, then takes place that change which the Word of God calls “repentance.” The man in whom the change is wrought is said to “repent.” He may be called, in one word, a “penitent” man...

(1) True repentance begins with knowledge of sin. The eyes of the penitent man are opened. He sees with dismay and confusion the length and breadth of God’s holy Law, and the extent, the enormous extent, of his own transgressions. He discovers, to his surprise, that in thinking himself a “good sort of man,” and a man with a “good heart,” he has been under a huge delusion. He finds out that, in reality, he is wicked, guilty, corrupt, and bad in God’s sight. His pride breaks down. His high thoughts melt away. He sees that he is neither more nor less than a great sinner. This is the first step in true repentance.

(2) True repentance goes on to work sorrow for sin. The heart of a penitent man is touched with deep remmorse because of his past transgressions. He is cut to the heart to think that he should have lived so madly and so wickedly. He mourns over time wasted, over talents misspent, over God dishonored, over his own soul injured. The remembrance of these things is grievous to him. The burden of these things is sometimes almost intolerable. When a man so sorrows, you have the second step in true repentance.

(3) True repentance proceeds, further, to produce in a man confession of sin. The tongue of a penitent man is loosed. He feels he must speak to that God against Whom he has sinned. Something within him tells him he must cry to God, pray to God, and talk with God about the state of his own soul. He must pour out his heart and acknowledge his iniquities at the throne of grace. They are a heavy burden within him, and he can no longer keep silence. He can keep nothing back. He will not hide anything. He goes before God, pleading nothing for himself and willing to say, “I have sinned against heaven and before Thee: my iniquity is great. God be merciful to me, a sinner!” When a man goes thus to God in confession, you have the third step in true repentance.

(4) True repentance, furthermore, shows itself before the world in a thorough breaking off from sin. The life of a penitent man is altered. The course of his daily conduct is entirely changed. A new King reigns within his heart. He puts off the old man (Eph 4:22). What God commands he now desires to practice; and what God forbids, he now desires to avoid (Cp. Luk 8:15; Psa 25:11; Luk 18:13). He strives in all ways to keep clear of sin, to fight with sin, to war with sin, to get the victory over sin. He ceases to do evil. He learns to do well. He breaks off sharply from bad ways and bad companions. He labors, however feebly, to live a new life. When a man does this, you have the fourth step in true repentance.

(5) True repentance, in the last place, shows itself by producing in the heart a settled habit of deep hatred of all sin. The mind of a penitent man becomes a mind habitually holy. He abhors that which is evil and cleaves to that which is good (Rom 12:9). He delights in the Law of God (Psa 1:2). He comes short of his own desires not infrequently. He finds in himself an evil principle warring against the Spirit of God (Gal 5:17). He finds himself cold when he would be hot, backward when he would be forward, heavy when he would be lively in God’s service. He is deeply conscious of his own infirmities. He groans under a sense of indwelling corruption. But still, for all that, the general bias of his heart is towards God and away from evil. He can say with David, “Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way” (Psa 119:128). When a man can say this, you have the fifth or crowning step of true repentance...

True repentance, such as I have just described, is never alone in the heart of any man. It always has a companion—a blessed companion. It is always accompanied by lively faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Wherever faith is, there is repentance; wherever repentance is, there is always faith. I do not decide which comes first—whether repentance comes before faith or faith before repentance. But I am bold to say that the two graces are never found separate, one from the other...

Beware that you make no mistake about the nature of true repentance. The devil knows too well the value of that precious grace not to dress up spurious imitations of it. Wherever there is good coin, there will always be bad money. Wherever there is a valuable grace, the devil will put in circulation counterfeits and shams of that grace and try to palm them off on men’s souls. Make sure that you are not deceived.

(1) Take heed that your repentance be a business of your heart. It is not a grave face, or a sanctimonious countenance, or a round of self-imposed austerities - it is not this alone which makes up true repentance towards God. The real grace is something far deeper than a mere affair of face, clothes, days, and forms. Ahab could put on sackcloth when it served his turn—but Ahab never repented.

(2) Take heed that your repentance be a repentance wherein you turn to God...Felix could tremble when he heard the Apostle Paul preach. But...this is not true repentance. See that your repentance leads you unto God and makes you flee to Him as your best Friend.

(3) Take heed that your repentance be a repentance attended by a thorough forsaking of sin. Sentimental people can cry when they hear moving sermons on Sundays, and yet return to the ball, the theatre, and the opera in the week after...feelings in religion are worse than worthless, unless they are accompanied by practice. Mere sentimental excitement, without thorough breaking off from sin, is not the repentance that God approves.

(4) Take heed, above all things, that your repentance be closely bound up with faith in the Lord Jesus. See that your convictions be convictions that never rest, except at the foot of the Cross whereon Jesus Christ died. Judas Iscariot could say, “I have sinned” (Mat 27:4), but Judas never turned to Jesus. Judas never looked by faith to Jesus, and therefore Judas died in his sins. Give me that conviction of sin that makes a man flee to Christ and mourn because by his sins he has pierced the Lord Who bought him. Give me that contrition of soul under which a man feels much about Christ and grieves to think of the despite he has done to so gracious a Savior. Going to Sinai, hearing about the Ten Commandments, looking at hell, thinking about the terrors of damnation—all this may make people afraid, and has its use. But no repentance ever lasts in which a man does not look at Calvary more than at Sinai, and see in a bleeding Jesus the strongest motive for contrition. Such repentance comes down from heaven. Such repentance is planted in man’s heart by God the Holy Ghost.

- From Old Paths reprinted by the Banner of Truth Trust.

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John MacArthur Exposes Freemasonry As Satanic Worship

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THE NATURE OF MORTIFICATION

John Flavel (c. 1630-1691)

“And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts”—Galatians 5:24.

FIRST, THE SUBJECT OF THE PROPOSITION: “They that are Christ’s,” viz., true Christians, real members of Christ; such as truly belong to Christ, such as have given themselves up to be governed by Him, and are indeed acted by His Spirit; such, all such persons…all such, and none but such.

SECONDLY, THE PREDICATE: “They have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts.” By flesh, we are here to understand carnal concupiscence, the workings and motions of corrupt nature. By the affections, we are to understand not the natural, but the inordinate affections. For Christ doth not abolish and destroy, but correct and regulate the affections of those that are in Him. And by crucifying the flesh, we are not to understand the total extinction or perfect subduing of corrupt nature, but only the deposing of corruption from its regency and dominion in the soul. Its dominion is taken away, though its life be prolonged for a season. Yet, as death surely, though slowly, follows crucifixion—the life of crucified persons gradually departing from them with their blood—it is just so in the mortification of sin. Therefore, what the Apostle in this place calls crucifying, he calls in Romans 8:13 mortifying: “If ye, through the Spirit, do mortify,” if ye put to death the deeds of the body. But he chooses, in this place, to call it crucifying to show not only the conformity there is between the death of Christ and the death of sin in respect of shame, pain, and lingering slowness; but to denote also the principal means and instruments of mortification, viz., the death or cross of Jesus Christ, in the virtue whereof believers do mortify the corruptions of their flesh, the great arguments and persuasives to mortification being drawn from the sufferings of Christ for sin…

DOCTRINE: A SAVING INTEREST IN CHRIST MAY BE REGULARLY AND STRONGLY INFERRED AND CONCLUDED FROM THE MORTIFICATION OF THE FLESH WITH ITS AFFECTIONS AND LUSTS. This point is fully confirmed by those words of the Apostle: “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him” (Rom 6:5-8)…The mortification of sin is an undoubted evidence of the union of such a soul with Christ, which is the very groundwork and principle of that blessed and glorious resurrection. Therefore, he saith, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (6:11), [as if he were saying], “Reason thus with yourselves: These mortifying influences of the death of Christ are unquestionable presages of your future blessedness, God never taking this course with any but those who are in Christ and are designed to be glorified with Him.” The death of your sin is as evidential as anything in the world can be of your spiritual life for the present and of your eternal life with God hereafter. Mortification is the fruit and evidence of your union and that union is the firm groundwork and certain pledge of your glorification. So you ought to reckon or reason the case with yourselves…

WHAT THE MORTIFICATION OR CRUCIFIXION OF SIN IMPORTS: For clearness sake, I shall speak to it both negatively and positively, showing you what is not intended and what is principally aimed at by the Spirit of God in this expression.

1. The crucifying of the flesh doth not imply the total abolition of sin in believers or the destruction of its very being and existence in them for the present. Sanctified souls so put off their corruptions with their dead bodies at death. This will be the effect of our future glorification, not of our present sanctification. Sin doth exist in the most mortified believer in the world (Rom 7:17). It still acteth and lusteth in the regenerate soul (Gal 5:17). Yea, notwithstanding its crucifixion in believers, it still may, in respect of single acts, surprise and captivate them (Psa 65:3; Rom 7:23)…

2. Nor doth the crucifixion of sin consist in the suppression of the external acts of sin only. For sin may reign over the souls of men, whilst it doth not break forth into their lives in gross and open actions (2Pe 3:20; Mat 12:43)…Many a man shows a white and fair hand, who yet hath a very foul and black heart.

3. The crucifixion of the flesh doth not consist [simply] in the cessation of the external acts of sin. For in that respect the lusts of men may die of their own accord, even a kind of natural death. The members of the body are the weapons of unrighteousness, as the Apostle calls them. Age or sickness may so blunt or break those weapons that the soul cannot use them to such sinful purposes and services as it was wont to do in the vigorous and healthful seasons of life; not that there is less sin in the heart, but because there are less strength and activity in the body. Just as it is with an old soldier, who hath as much skill, policy, and delight as ever in military actions; but age and hard services have so enfeebled him that he can no longer follow the camp.

4. The crucifixion of sin doth not consist in the severe castigation of the body and penancing it by stripes, fasting, and tiresome pilgrimages. This may pass for mortification among Papists, but never was any lust of the flesh destroyed by this rigor. Christians, indeed, are bound not to indulge and pamper the body, which is the instrument of sin; nor must we think that the spiritual corruptions of the soul feel these stripes that are inflicted upon the body (Col 2:23). It is not the vanity of superstition, but the power of true religion that crucifies and destroys corruption. It is faith in Christ’s blood, not the spilling of our own blood, which gives sin the mortal wound. But if you enquire, what then is implied in the mortification or crucifixion of sin and wherein it doth consist? I answer,

1. It necessarily implies the soul’s implantation into Christ and union with Him without which it is impossible that any one corruption should be mortified. They that are [Christ’s] have crucified the flesh. The attempts and endeavors of all others are vain and ineffectual: “For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death” (Rom 7:5). Sin was then in its full dominion: No abstinence, rigor, or outward severity; no purpose, promises, or solemn vows could mortify or destroy it. There must be an implantation into Christ before there can be any effectual crucifixion of sin. What believer almost hath not, in the days of his first convictions, tried all external methods and means of mortifying sin and found all in experience to be to as little purpose as the binding of Samson with green withs or cords? But when he hath once come to act faith upon the death of Christ, then the design of mortification hath prospered and succeeded to good purpose.

2. Mortification of sin implies the agency of the Spirit of God in that work, without Whose assistances and aids all our endeavors must needs be fruitless. Of this work, we may say as it was said in another case, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zec 4:6). When the Apostle therefore would show by what hand this work of mortification is performed, he thus expresseth it, “If ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom 8:13). The duty is ours, but the power whereby we perform it is God’s…

3. The crucifixion of sin necessarily implies the subversion of its dominion in the soul. A mortified sin cannot be a reigning sin (Rom 6:12-14). Two things constitute the dominion of sin, viz., the fullness of its power and the soul’s subjection to it. As to the fullness of its power that rises from the suitableness it hath and pleasure it gives to the corrupt heart of man: It seems to be as necessary as the right hand, as useful and pleasant as the right eye (Mat 5:29). But the mortified heart is dead to all pleasures and profits of sin. It hath no delight or pleasure in it; it becomes its burden and daily complaint. Mortification presupposes the illumination of the mind and conviction of the conscience; by reason whereof sin cannot deceive and blind the mind or bewitch and ensnare the will and affections as it was wont to do. Consequently, its dominion over the soul is destroyed and lost.

4. The crucifying of the flesh implies a gradual weakening of the power of sin in the soul. The death of the cross was a slow and lingering death, and the crucified person grew weaker and weaker every hour. So it is in the mortification of sin: The soul is still cleansing itself from “all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2Co 7:1). And as the body of sin is weakened more and more, so the inward man or the new creature is “renewed day by day” (2Co 4:16). For sanctification is a progressive work of the Spirit: As holiness increases and roots itself deeper and deeper in the soul, so the power and interest of sin proportionally abates and sinks lower and lower, until at length it be swallowed up in victory.

5. The crucifying of the flesh notes to us the believer’s designed application of all spiritual means and sanctified instruments for the destruction of it. There is nothing in this world that a gracious heart more vehemently desires and longs for than the death of sin and perfect deliverance from it (Rom 7:24). The sincerity of [such] desires doth accordingly manifest itself in the daily application of all God’s remedies: such are daily watching against the occasions of sin, “I have made a covenant with mine eyes” (Job 31:1). More than ordinary vigilance over their special or proper sin: “I kept myself from mine iniquity” (Psa 18:23). Earnest cries to heaven for preventing grace: “Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me” (Psa 19:13). Deep humbling of soul for sins past, which is an excellent preventive unto future sins: “[in] that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you” (2Co 7:11). Care to give no furtherance or advantage to the design of sin by making provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof, as others do (Rom 13:13-14). Willingness to bear due reproofs for sin, “Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness” (Psa 141:5). These, and such like means of mortification, regenerate souls are daily using and applying in order to the death of sin.

From “The Method of Grace” in The Works of John Flavel, Vol. II, reprinted by The Banner of Truth Trust.

John Flavel (c. 1630-1691): English Presbyterian and minister at Dartmouth, Devonshire, England. Voluminous writer of evangelical works such as The Fountain of Life Opened and Keeping the Heart. His vivid word pictures resulted in memorable, life-changing sermons. One of his hearers said “that person must have a very soft head, or a very hard heart, or both, that could sit under his ministry unaffected”; born at Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England.“

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You Can't Get There from Here - John MacArthur

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A Wideness in God's Mercy?

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Ready to Discriminate?

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The Ground of the Sinners Faith

by C.H. Spurgeon

On what ground does the sinner dare to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?

My dear friends, it is true that no man will believe in Jesus, unless he feels his need of him. But you have often heard me say, and I repeat it again, that I do not come to Christ pleading that I feel my need of him; my reason for believing in Christ, is not that I feel my need of him, but that I have a need of him. The ground on which a man comes to Jesus, is not as a sensible sinner, but as a sinner, and nothing but a sinner. He will not come unless he is awakened; but when he comes, he does not say, “Lord, I come to thee because I am an awakened sinner, save me.” But he says, “Lord, I am a sinner, save me.” Not his awakening, but his sinnership is the method and plan upon which he dares to come. You will, perhaps, perceive what I mean, for I cannot exactly explain myself just now. If I refer to the preaching of a great many Calvinistic divines, they say to a sinner, “Now, if you feel your need of Christ, if you have repented so much, if you have been harrowed by the law to such-and-such a degree, then you may come to Christ on the ground that you are an awakened sinner.” I say that is false. No man may come to Christ on the ground of his being an awakened sinner; he must come to him as a sinner. When I come to Jesus, I know I am not come unless I am awakened, but still, I do not come as an awakened sinner. I do not stand at the foot of his cross to be washed because I have repented; I bring nothing when I come but sin. A sense of need is a good feeling, but when I stand at the foot of the cross, I do not believe in Christ because I have got good feelings, but I believe in him whether I have good feelings or not.

“Just as I am without one plea, But that thy blood was shed for me, And that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God I come.”

Mr. Roger, Mr. Sheppard, Mr. Flavel, and several excellent divines, in the Puritanic age, and especially Richard Baxter, used to give descriptions of what a man must feel before he may dare to come to Christ. Now, I say in the language of good Mr. Fenner, another of those divines, who said he was but a babe in grace when compared with them—“I dare to say it, that all this is not Scriptural. Sinners do feel these things before they come, but they do not come on the ground of having felt it; they come on the ground of being sinners, and on no other ground whatever.” The gate of Mercy is opened, and over the door it is written, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. “ Between that word “save” and the next word “sinners,” there is no adjective. It does not say, “penitent sinners,” “awakened sinners,” “sensible sinners,” “grieving sinners,” or “alarmed sinners.” No, it only says “sinners,” and I know this, that when I come, I come to Christ to-day, for I feel it is as much a necessity of my life to come to the cross of Christ to-day as it was to come ten years ago,—when I come to him I dare not come as a conscious sinner or an awakened sinner, but I have to come still as a sinner with nothing in my hands. I saw an aged man this week in the vestry of a chapel in Yorkshire. I had been saying something to this effect: the old man had been a Christian for years, and he said, “I never saw it put exactly so, but still I know that is just the way I come; I say, `Lord,

`Nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling; Naked, look to thee for dress; Helpless, come to thee for grace; Black'— [“Black enough,” said the old man] `I to the fountain fly, Wash me, Saviour, or I die.'“

Faith is getting right out of yourself and getting into Christ. I know that many hundreds of poor souls have been troubled because the minister has said, “if you feel your need, you may come to Christ.” “But,” say they, “I do not feel my need enough; I am sure I do not.” Many a score letters have I received from poor troubled consciences who have said, “I would venture to believe in Christ to save me if I had a tender conscience; if I had a soft heart—but oh my heart is like a rock of ice which will not melt. I cannot feel as I would like to feel, and therefore I must not believe in Jesus.” Oh! down with it, down with it! It is a wicked anti-Christ; it is flat Popery! It is not your soft heart that entitles you to believe. You are to believe in Christ to renew your hard heart, and come to him with nothing about you but sin. The ground on which a sinner comes to Christ is that he is black; that he is dead, and not that he knows he is dead; that he is lost, and not that he knows he is lost. I know he will not come unless he does know it, but that is not the ground on which he comes. It is the secret reason why, but it is not the public positive ground which he understands. Here was I, year after year, afraid to come to Christ because I thought I did not feel enough; and I used to read that hymn of Cowper's about being insensible as steel—

“If aught is felt 'tis only pain To find I cannot feel.”

When I believed in Christ, I thought I did not feel at all. Now when I look back I find that I had been feeling all the while most acutely and intensely, and most of all because I thought I did not feel. Generally the people who repent the most, think they are impenitent, and people feel most their need when they think they do not feel at all, for we are no judges of our feelings, and hence the gospel invitation is not put upon the ground of anything of which we can be a judge; it is put on the ground of our being sinners and nothing but sinners. “Well,” says one, “but it says, `Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest'—then we must be weary and heavy-laden.” Just so; so it is in the text, but then there is another. “Whosoever will let him come”; and that does not say anything about “weary and heavy-laden.” Besides, while the invitation is given to the weary and heavy-laden, you will perceive that the promise is not made to them as weary and heavy-laden, but it is made to them as coming to Christ. They did not know that they were weary and heavy-laden when they came; they thought they were not. They really were, but part of their weariness was that they could not be as weary as they would like to be, and part of their load was that they did not feel their load enough. They came to Christ just as they were, and he saved them, not because there was any merit in their weariness, or any efficacy in their being heavy-laden, but he saved them as sinners and nothing but sinners, and so they were washed in his blood and made clean. My dear hearer, do let me put this truth home to thee. If thou wilt come to Christ this morning, as nothing but a sinner, he will not cast thee out.

Old Tobias Crisp says in one of his sermons upon this very point, “I dare to say it, but if thou dost come to Christ, whosoever thou mayest be, if he does not receive thee, then he is not true to his word, for he says, `Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.'“ If thou comest, never mind qualification or preparation. He needeth no qualification of duties or of feelings either. Thou art to come just as thou art, and if thou art the biggest sinner out of hell, thou art as fit to come to Christ as if thou wert the most moral and most excellent of men. There is a bath: who is fit to be washed? A man's blackness is no reason why he should not be washed, but the clearer reason why he should be. When our City magistrates were giving relief to the poor, nobody said, “I am so poor, therefore I am not fit to have relief.” Your poverty is your preparation, the black is the white here. Strange contradiction! The only thing you can bring to Christ is your sin and your wickedness. All he asks is, that you will come empty. If you have anything of your own, you must leave all before you come. If there be anything good in you, you cannot trust Christ, you must come with nothing in your hand. Take him as all in all, and that is the only ground upon which a poor soul can be saved—as a sinner, and nothing but a sinner.

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USELESS KINDS OF RELIGION

J. C. Ryle (1816-1900)

There are two ways by which a man may lose his own soul. What are they?

1. He may lose his soul by living and dying without any religion at all. He may live and die like a beast, prayerless, godless, graceless, faithless. This is a sure way to hell. Mind that you do not walk in it.

2. He may lose his soul by taking up some kind of religion. He may live and die contenting himself with a false Christianity and resting on a baseless hope. This is the commonest way to hell there is.

What do I mean by useless kinds of religion? I will tell you. The first thing I wish to say is this. A religion is entirely useless in which Jesus Christ is not the principal object and does not fill the principal place.

There are only too many baptized men and women who practically know nothing about Christ. Their religion consists in a few vague notions and empty expressions. “They trust they are no worse than others; they keep to their Church; they try to do their duty; they do nobody any harm; they hope God will be merciful to them! They trust the Almighty will pardon their sins and take them to heaven when they die.” This is about the whole of their religion.

But what do these people know practically about Christ? Nothing: nothing at all! What experiential acquaintance have they with His offices and work, His blood, His righteousness, His mediation, His priesthood, His intercession? None: none at all! Ask them about a saving faith—ask them about being born again of the Spirit—ask them about being sanctified in Christ Jesus. What answer will you get? You are a barbarian to them. You have asked them simple Bible questions; but they know no more about them experientially than a Buddhist or a Muslim.

And yet this is the religion of hundreds of thousands of people who are called Christians all over the world.

lf you are a man of this kind, I warn you plainly that such Christianity will never take you to heaven. It may do very well in the eyes of men; it may pass muster very decently at the [church] meeting, in the place of business, in the House of Commons, or in the streets. But it will never comfort you. It will never satisfy your conscience. It will never save your soul.

I warn you plainly that all notions and theories about God being merciful without Christ and excepting through Christ are baseless delusions and empty fancies. Such theories are as purely an idol of man’s invention. They are all of the earth, earthy: they never came down from heaven. The God of heaven has sealed and appointed Christ as the one and only Savior and way of life; and all who would be saved must be content to be saved by Him, or they will never be saved at all. I give you fair warning. A religion without Christ will never save your soul (Joh 14:6)!

But I have another thing yet to say. A religion is entirely useless in which you join anything with Christ in the matter of saving your soul. You must not only depend on Christ for salvation, but you must depend on Christ only and Christ alone (Eph 2:8-9).

There are multitudes of baptized men and women who profess to honor Christ, but in reality do Him great dishonor. They give Christ a certain place in their system of religion, but not the place which God intended Him to fill. Christ alone is not “all in all” to their souls (Eph 1:23). No: it is either Christ and the Church, or Christ and the Sacraments, or Christ and His ordained ministers, or Christ and their own goodness, or Christ and their own prayers, or Christ and their own sincerity and charity—on which they practically rest their souls.

If you are a Christian of this kind I warn you also plainly that your religion is an offence to God. You are changing God’s plan of salvation into a plan of your own devising. You are, in effect, deposing Christ from His throne by giving the glory due to Him to another. I care not who it is that teaches you your religion and on whose word you build. Whether he be Pope or Cardinal, Archbishop or Bishop, Dean or Archdeacon, Presbyter or Deacon, Episcopalian or Presbyterian, Baptist or Independent, Methodist or Plymouth Brother—whosoever adds anything to Christ, teaches you wrong (Gal 1:6-8).

I care not what it is that you add to Christ. Whether it be the necessity of joining the Church of Rome, or of being an Episcopalian, or of becoming a Free Churchman, or of giving up the liturgy, or of being baptized by immersion, whatever you may practically add to Christ in the matter of salvation, you do Christ an injury.

Take heed what you are doing. Beware of giving to Christ’s servants the honour due to none but Christ. Beware of giving the Lord’s ordinances the honour due unto the Lord. Beware of resting the burden of your soul on anything but Christ, and Christ alone. Beware of having a religion which is of no use, and cannot save.

[Christ] left the glory He had from all eternity with the Father and came down into the world to provide salvation. He took our nature upon Him and was born as a man. As a man He did the will of God perfectly (Mat 17:5), which we all had left undone (Rom 3:23). As a man He suffered on the cross the wrath of God which we ought to have suffered (Rom 6:23). He brought in everlasting righteousness for us (Dan 9:24). He redeemed us from the curse of a broken law (Luke 1:68; Rev 5:9). He opened a fountain for all sin and uncleaness. He died for our sins. He rose again for our justification (Rom 4:25)). He ascended to God’s right hand, and there sat down, waiting till His enemies should be made his footstool (Luke 20:42-43). And there He sits now, [calling] to all who will come to Him, interceding for all who believe in Him, and managing by God’s appointment all that concerns the salvation of souls (Joh 3; Eph 1-2; Rom 3-5).

It is an awful thing to have no religion at all. To have an immortal soul committed to your charge and neglect it—this is dreadful.

But it’s no less an awful thing to be content with a religion than can do you no good.

Do not let this be your case!

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A JUST GOD

By C.H. SPURGEON

WHEN I was under conviction of sin I had a deep and sharp sense of the justice of God. Sin, whatever it might be to other people, became to me an intolerable burden. It was not so much that I feared the wrath to come, but that I feared sin. I knew myself to be so horribly guilty that I remember feeling that if God did not punish me for sin, He ought to do so. I felt that the judge of all the earth ought to condemn such sin as mine. I sat on the judgment seat and I condemned myself to perish, for I confessed that, had I been God, I could have done no other than send such a guilty creature as I was down to the lowest hell. All the while, I had upon my mind a deep concern for the honor of God's name and the integrity of His moral government. I felt that it would not satisfy my conscience if it could be forgiven unjustly. The sin that I had committed must be punished. But then there was the question how God could be just and yet justify me who had been so guilty. I asked my heart, “How can He be just and yet the Justifier?” (Rom 3:26). I was worried and wearied with this question; neither could I see any answer to it. Certainly I could never have invented an answer which would have satisfied my conscience.

The doctrine of the atonement is to my mind one of the surest proofs of the divine inspiration of Holy Scripture. Who would or could have thought of the just Ruler dying for the unjust rebel? This is no teaching of human mythology or dream of poetical imagination. This method of expiation is only known among men because it is a fact. Fiction could not have devised it. God Himself ordained it. It is not a matter which could have been imagined.

I had heard the plan of salvation by the sacrifice of Jesus from my youth up, but I did not know any more about it in my innermost soul than if I had been born a Hottentot. It came to me as a new revelation, as fresh as if I had never read the scriptures, that Jesus was declared to be “the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2:2), that God might be just.

When I was anxious about the possibility of a just God pardoning me, I understood and saw by faith that He who is the Son of God became man and, in His own blessed person, bore my sin in His own body on the tree. I saw the chastisement of my peace was laid upon Him, and with His stripes I was healed (Isa 53:5). Have you ever seen that? Have you ever understood how God can be just to the full, not remitting penalty nor blunting the edge of the sword, and yet can be infinitely merciful and can justify the ungodly who turn to Him? It was because the Son of God, supremely glorious in His matchless person, undertook to vindicate the law, by bearing the sentence due me, that therefore God is able to pass by my sin. The law of God was more vindicated by the death of Christ than it would have been had all transgressions been punished forever. For the Son of God to suffer for sin was a more glorious establishment of the government of God than for the whole race to suffer.

“Jesus has borne the death penalty on our behalf!” Behold the wonder! There He hangs upon the cross! This is the greatest sight you will ever see: Son of God and Son of man! There He hangs, bearing pains unutterable—the Just for the unjust—that He might bring us to God. Oh, the glory of that sight! The Innocent suffering! The Holy One condemned! The Ever-blessed made a curse! The Infinitely Glorious put to a shameful death! The more I look at the sufferings of the Son of God, the more sure I am that they must meet my case. Why did He suffer, if not to turn aside the penalty from us? If, then, He turned it aside by His death, it is turned aside, and those who believe in Him need not fear it. It must be so, that since expiation is made, God is able to forgive without shaking the basis of His throne or in the least degree blotting out the statute book. Conscience gets a full answer to her tremendous question. The wrath of God against iniquity, whatever that may be, must be beyond all conception terrible. Well did Moses say, “Who knoweth the power of thine anger!” (Psalm 90:11). Yet, when we hear the Lord of Glory cry, “Why hast thou forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1) and see Him yielding up the ghost, we feel that the justice of God has received abundant vindication by obedience so perfect and death so terrible, rendered by so divine a Person. If God Himself bows before His own law, what more can be done? There is more in the atonement by way of merit than there is in all human sin by way of demerit. The great gulf of Jesus' loving self sacrifice can swallow up the mountains of our sin, all of them. For the sake of the infinite good of this one representative Man, the Lord may well look with favor upon other men, however unworthy they may be in and of themselves. It was a miracle of miracles that the Lord Jesus Christ should stand in our stead and “bear, that we might never bear, His Fathers righteous Ire.” But He has done so. “It is finished” (John 19:30). God will save the sinner because He did not spare His Son. God can pass by your transgressions because He laid those transgressions upon His only begotten Son.

What is it to believe in Him? It is not merely to say, “He is God and the Saviour,” but to trust Him wholly and entirely, and take Him for all your salvation from this time forth and forever—your Lord, your Master, your All. If you will have the Lord Jesus, He has you already. If you believe on Him, I tell you, you cannot go to hell, for that were to make the perfect sacrifice of Christ to none effect. If the Lord Jesus Christ died in my stead, why should I die also? Every believer by faith has laid his hands on the Sacrifice, and made it his own, and therefore may rest assured that he can never perish. The Lord would not receive this offering on our behalf and then condemn us to die. The Lord cannot read our pardon written in the blood of His own Son and then smite us. That were impossible. Oh, that you may have grace given you at once to look away to Jesus, Who is the fountainhead of mercy to guilty man! Will you come into this lifeboat just as you are? Here is safety from the wreck. Accept the sure deliverance. Leap for it just as you are, and leap now!

I will tell you this thing about myself to encourage you. My sole hope for heaven lies in the full atonement made upon Calvary's cross for the ungodly. On that I firmly rely. I have not a shadow of hope anywhere else. You are in the same condition as I am, for we, neither of us, have anything of our own worth thinking of as a ground of trust. Let us join hands and stand together at the foot of the cross and trust our souls once for all to Him who shed His blood for the guilty. We will be saved by the one and the same Saviour. If you perish trusting Him, I must perish too. What can I do more to prove my own confidence in the Gospel which is set before you?

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Kirk Cameron's Testimony w / John MacArthur

This is a longer version of the previous video with Kirk Cameron's testimony!

Luke 9:23 - And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Bro. Pat
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True Salvation Through The Lord Jesus Christ

Practical Godliness

by Arthur W. Pink

“BE YE DOERS of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).

It is much, very much to be thankful for when the Holy Spirit has illumined a man’s understanding, dispersed the mists of error, and established him in the Truth. Yet that is only the beginning. The Holy Scriptures are “profitable” not only for “doctrine” but also for “reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16). Observe well the order there: before we are ready to be instructed “in righteousness” (right doing), there is much in our lives that God “reproves”and which we must “correct.” Necessarily so, for before conversion everything in our lives was wrong! For all we did was for the gratifying of self, with no thought or concern for God’s honour and glory. Therefore, the first great need, and the primary duty of every young convert is not to study the Old Testament types, or puzzle his brains over prophecy, but to diligently search the Scriptures in order to find out what is pleasing and displeasing to God, what He forbids and what He commands.

If you have been genuinely converted, then your first concern must be to form all the details of your life—in the home, in the church, in the world—so as to please God. And in the actual bringing of this to pass, the order will be “cease to do evil; learn to do well” (Isaiah 1:16-17); “Depart from evil, and do good” (Psalm 34:14 and cf. 37:27). There has to be a breaking down before there can be a building up (Eccl 3:3). There has to be an emptying of self before there is the filling of the Spirit. There has to be an unlearning before there is a true learning. And there has to be a hating of “evil” before there is a loving of the “good” (Amos 5:15 and cf. Rom. 12:9).

Now to the extent the young Christian does use the Holy Scriptures in a practical way, regulating his thoughts, desires and actions by their warnings and encouragements, their prohibitions and precepts, will very largely determine the measure in which he will enjoy God’s blessing on his life. As the moral Governor of the world God takes note of our conduct, and sooner or later manifests His displeasure against our sins, and His approval of a righteous walk, by granting that measure of prosperity which is most for our good and His glory. In the keeping of His commandments “there is great reward” (Psalm 19:11) in this life (1 Tim. 4:8). O how much temporal and spiritual blessing most Christians miss through careless and disobedient conduct: see Isaiah 48:18!

The tragic thing is that instead of the average young Christian studying diligently God’s Word so as to discover all the details of the divine will for him, he does almost anything and everything else. Many a one engages in “personal work” or some form of Christian “service” while his own life remains full of things displeasing to God! The presence of those displeasing things in his life hinders God’s blessings upon his soul, body, and temporal affairs; and to him it has to be said: “Your sins have withholden good things from you” (Jer 5:25). God’s Word to His people is: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12). But O how little of this “fear and trembling” is to be found anywhere today! Instead, there is self-esteem, selfconfidence, boasting and carnal security.

There are others who give themselves unto the diligent study of doctrine, but, generally, they fail to realize that the doctrine of Scripture is not a series of intellectual propositions, but is the “doctrine which is according to godliness” (1 Tim. 6:3). The “doctrine” or “teaching” of God’s Holy Word is given not for the instruction of our brains, but for the regulation of all the details of our daily lives; and this in order that we may “adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things” (Titus 2:10). But that can only be realized by a constant reading of the Word with one dominant purpose—to discover what God forbids and what he commands; by our meditating frequently on what we have read, and by fervent prayer for supernatural grace to enable us to obey. If the young convert does not early form the habit of treading the path of practical obedience to God, then he will not have His ear when he prays! John states plainly one of the main conditions which we must constantly seek grace to heed, if our petitions are to meet with acceptance: “and whatsoever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:22). But if instead of submitting unto God’s holy requirements, we follow our own inclinations, then it will be said, “Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2). This is unspeakably solemn. O what a difference it makes whether or not we have experimental access to God!

Not only does the young Christian, by following a course of self-pleasing, reduce his prayers to empty words, but he brings down upon himself the rod of God, and everything goes wrong in his life. That is one reason why many Christians are suffering just as sorely as the poor worldlings are: God is displeased with their ways, and does not show Himself strong on their behalf (2 Chron 16:9). In this connection we have sought to point out in the past the remedy, which calls for real heart-humbling before the Lord, godly sorrow, true repentance, unsparing confession, the firm determination to reform our ways; and then (and not before) faith’s counting on God’s mercy and a patient expectation that He will work wonders for us if we now tread the path of full submission to Him.

It's All About Christ - Paul Washer

FIVE FACTS EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD KNOW

Revealed in Romans 8:29,30

FACT #1, For whom He did foreknow — Before the foundation of the world, God determined who shall be the objects of his love (1 Peter 1:2; Eph. 1:4; Rev. 21:27).

FACT #2, He also did predestinate — Before the foundation of the world, God determined how the objects of His love shall be made to know their position (1 Thess. 5:9; Eph. 1:5,11; Phil. 2:13).

FACT #3, Them He also called — Before the foundation of the world, God determined when in their lives He would quicken them to spiritual life (Gal. 1:15,16; Eph. 1:10,13,18).

FACT #4, Them He also justified — Before the foundation of the world, God determined by what means the objects of his love would be reconciled to Himself (Rom 3:24; Eph. 1:6; Eph. 2:13).

FACT #5, Them He also glorified — Before the foundation of the world, God determined where the objects of His love should spend eternity (Rev. 21:24; Eph. 2:4-7; Col. 3:4). Consider that these five facts were established in time, before the foundation of the world and they cannot be completely fulfilled until after this present world passes away, yet, they are recorded in the Sacred Scriptures in the past tense, as though they had already been fulfilled. Such is the certainty of God”s purpose for you.

We also notice, that, whereas, these facts have to do with your personal and eternal salvation, none of them depend upon you for their fulfillment, but were determined long before you ever existed and are according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace (Eph. 1:5,6).

One thing that is very evident, is, that you are not a Christian today because of some twist of fate, or because the odds happened to be in your favor, or that you are just plain lucky. You are a Christian today because of some very deliberate planning on God”s part, that began before He created this world and shall continue long after this world is dissolved.

How may you know that these things pertain to you after all? Peter admonishes us to, “give diligence to make your calling and election sure.” First of all, you will know that you have been quickened or made spiritually alive by God, if you have a spiritual appetite. Do you truly hunger after the things of God? Do you seek to know and understand the Word of God? Is the fruit of the Spirit evident in your life? Do you have love, joy and peace within your own soul, longsuffering, gentleness and goodness towards others and faith, meekness and temperance before God? Have you confessed that Jesus is Lord and do you believe that God raised Him from the dead? Do you recognize that only the blood of Jesus Christ, God”s Son, can cleanse you from all sin?

If you can answer yes to these questions, this is evidence that God has wrought a miracle of grace in your heart and you have been born again.

These things are certain because they depend not on you, but on God the Father, who purposed your redemption, God the Son who accomplished your redemption and God the Holy Spirit who applies your redemption.

What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who shall be against us? (Romans 8:31) So, rejoice, because your names are written in Heaven (Luke 10:20). —C.R.M. (Mount Zion)

The White Devil

By John Bunyan

THIS doctrine of coming to Jesus Christ for life, informs us of the evil of UNBELIEF; that wicked thing which is the only or chief hindrance to the coming sinner. Doth the text say, “Come”? Doth it say, “And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out”? Then what an evil is that, that keepeth sinners from coming to Jesus Christ? And that evil is UNBELIEF: for by faith we come; by UNBELIEF we keep away. Therefore it is that by which a soul is said to depart from God: because it was that which at first caused the world to go off from him, and that also, that keeps them from him to this day. And it doth it the more easily, because it doth it with a wile.

This sin may be called THE WHITE DEVIL. For it ofttimes, in its mischievous doing in the soul, shows as if it were an angel of light: yea, it acteth like a counsellor of heaven. Therefore, a little to discourse of this evil disease, I observe:

1. It is that sin, above all others, that hath some show of reason in its attempts. For it keeps the soul from Christ, by pretending its present unfitness and unpreparedness: as want of more sense of sin, want of more repentance, want of more humility, want of a more broken heart.

2. It is the sin that most suiteth with the conscience. The conscience of the coming sinner tells him, that he hath nothing good! that he stands inditable for ten thousand talents; that he is a very ignorant, blind and hard-hearted sinner, unworthy to be once taken notice of by Jesus Christ; and will you (says UNBELIEF) in such a case as you are now, presume to come to Jesus Christ?

3. It is the sin that most suiteth with our sense of feeling. The coming sinner feels the workings of sin, of all manner of sin and wretchedness in his flesh; he also feels the wrath and judgment of God due to sin and ofttimes staggers under it. Now, (says UNBELIEF) you may see you have no grace; for that which works in you is corruption. You may also perceive that God doth not love you, because the sense of his wrath abides upon you. Therefore, how can you bear the face to come to Jesus Christ?

4. It is that sin above all others that most suiteth the wisdom of our flesh. The wisdom of our flesh thinks it prudence to question awhile, to stand back awhile, to hearken to both sides awhile; and not to be rash, sudden, or unadvised, in too bold a presuming upon Christ. And this wisdom UNBELIEF falls in with.

5. It is the sin above all others, that continually is whispering in the ear the soul, with mistrusts of the faithfulness of God, in keeping promise to them that come to Jesus Christ for life. It also suggests mistrusts about Christ's willingness to receive it, and save it. And no sin can do this so artfully as UNBELIEF.

6. It is also that sin which is always at hand to enter an objection against this or that promise, that by the Spirit of God is brought to our heart to comfort us. And if the poor coming sinner is not aware of it, it will by some exaction, slight, trick, or cavil, quickly wrest from him the promise again, and he shall have but little benefit of it.

7. It is that above all other sins, that weakens our prayers, our faith, our love, our diligence, our hope and expectations. It even taketh the heart away from God in duty.

8. Lastly, this sin, as I have said, even now, appears in the soul with so many sweet pretences to greater safety and security, that it is, as it were, counsel sent from heaven; bidding the soul be wise, wary, considerate, well-advised, and to take heed of too rash a venture upon believing. “Be sure, first, that God loves you; take hold of no promise until you are forced by God unto it; neither be sure of your salvation; doubt it still, though the testimony of the Lord has often been confirmed in you. Live not by faith, but by sense; and when you can neither see nor feel, then fear and mistrust, then doubt and question all.” This is the devilish counsel of UNBELIEF, which is so covered over with specious pretences, that the wisest Christian can hardly shake off these reasonings.

Thus might many more be added, which for brevity's sake, I omit; beseeching every one that thinketh he hath a soul to save, or be damned, to take heed of UNBELIEF; lest seeing there is a promise left us of entering into his rest, any of us by UNBELIEF should indeed come short of it.